GALLERY FOUR: The CAMERA AND PHOTOGRAPHY

TEXTBOOK READING: Seeing the Light, pp. 107-141.

This Seeing the Light Chapter starts off by finishing off the general lens discussion initiated in Chapter 3 with the most pertinent application of lenses for the visusl artist, optics for photographic imaging. There are discussions of the 3 basic types of lenses, normal, wide angle and telephoto, and a few others niche applications, and the concepts of depth of field and perspective.

The characteristics of exposing photographic recording materials in regards to sensitivity, time and quantity are discussed, and because this book is copyrighted 1986 don't expect a discussion of digital photography, it's only old school analog, silver halide based chemical photography.

SUPPLEMENTAL READING:
Click on the titles below to open a new window of text to supplement the book, gleaned from a variety of sources, some even written by yours truly. They are presented in the order in which they would be introduced in the class lecture.

LENS SUITE: Delves a bit deeper into the topic than the book, with some historical background and practical designs. For even more depth with more science, try this timeless article from Scientific American.

NORMALS: A supplement to the above, showing the normal focal lengths for all the old school film formats that could fit on a printed page.

dSLR FORMATS: A supplement to the above, showing the normal focal lengths for the FX and DX digital sensor formats.

A TALE OF TWO NORMALS: Swapping normal lenses between two different sensor format sizes.

SLR GUTS: A disassembled camera would be passed around in class, and this handout describes each of the sub assemblies.

VIEWING A PRINT IN TRUE PERSPECTIVE: Accompanied by an in-class viewing of 6 prints.

PERSPECTIVE GIF: Make your head spin with an interesting way to compare the effects of focal length on perspective.

PERSPECTIVE EXERCISE: Explains what hit you in the above.

IRIS DIAPHRAGMS AND OTHER APERTURES: How they work. (Also in Chapter 3 Gallery, a refresher for DEPTH of FIELD ROUNDUP following below.)

The f/NUMBERING SYSTEM: Take it slow and easy and you'll understand the wisdom of how these numbers work. (Also in Chapter 3 Gallery, a refresher for DEPTH of FIELD ROUNDUP following below.)

DEPTH of FIELD ROUNDUP: How f/#, focal length and object distance affect depth of field.

HOW GOOD ARE MAMIYA LENSES? Understanding an article like this is what this class is all about. All the above handouts are tied together in this comparison of normal, wide angle, and telephoto lenses that fit on the Mamiya 645 or Phase One Capture Stations in the Harrington College of Design Digital Photography Studios. The resolution numbers in lines/mm come from looking at the USAF Resolution Target, with the lens, and seeing what is the smallest element found. The higher the better. If you feel that you comprehend this article then Chapters 3 & 4 did their job, and you deserve an A.

CANON EOS SYSTEM: A brochure touting their lenses, and after having mastered this chapter you can truly appreciate the information in the slide show, and why lenses cost so much.

LIGHT SENSITIVE MATERIALS:
The second half of this chapter deals with analog, chemical, photography, as the book was written before the advent of digital photography. The reader is encouraged not to skip this section, unless time is of the essence, as the traditional photographic process is quite beautiful in principle and practice. Plus there are characteristics of all images, on screen or printed, that have their roots in analog, like contrast, sensitivity of recording material, etc., that show up in Photoshop, and this book has very good explanations and examples of those concepts.

The ASA/ANSI/ISO NUMBER SERIES: Where those numbers on a dSLR come from.

DENSITY: A handout I had written when I worked at Gallery 1134. Link.

GREY CARD: An important part of image making systems, the reproduction of this "Standard of the Industry" should look the same as the original when placed side by side.

DAGUERREOTYPES: The book does mention this earliest practical process, and here are examples of some that were shown in class. For more info, go to the Photo Museum on this site.


Chapter Four Demonstrations Gallery


Back to Optics Museum Index

Back to Chapter Three, Lenses and Mirrors

Forward to Chapter Five, The Human Eye